I’m Wat I’m!!!

Twenty-one days after launch, Chandrayaan-1, India’s maiden moon craft has it seems finally reached its home orbit. It is now in an almost 102 kilometre from the moon. The satellite’s onboard engine was fired for 58 seconds on Nov 12, 2008 at about 6.30 pm.

ISRO officials say preliminary indications are that it has reached its designated orbit. Among its first tasks in the next few days will be to release the probe that carries the Indian national flag on to the lunar surface.

After that it will begin its scientific exploration which will last two years, which includes mapping the lunar resources, preparing a three dimensional atlas of the moon and searching for water on the lunar poles.

Sachin Tendulkar said he would miss Bengali chatter with close pal Sourav Ganguly, who retired from international cricket.

Tendulkar recalled his long association with the elegant left-hander and said he owes the little Bengali he knows to his former opening partner in one-dayers.

“But the question I ask myself is who will I now speak to in Bengali? Well I have enjoyed conversing with him in that language and whatever Bengali I have picked up is thanks to him,” Tendulkar said in a newspaper column.

“Whenever we had a long partnership, I used to walk mid-pitch and speak a few Bangla words to ease the pressure of the situation,” he said.

Tendulkar went on to recount some pranks he had played on Ganguly during their days together in the Indian dressing room.

“Cricket lovers have heard about how I disturbed the watchman of the Nehru Stadium with my constant bat-hitting leather activities at night and the fact that he brought it to the attention of our coach Vasu Paranjape,” he wrote in ‘Mid-Day’.

“But not many have heard this — One day when Sourav was enjoying his rest and dozed off, I had his room flooded with water. Sourav woke up to the mini deluge surprised, shocked, staggered — in that order.

“His only solace was I made sure that his cricketing kit was not among the ruins. Imagine what a sight it would have been — his bats, pads floating in water.”